Imagine 32 world championships happening all at once over the course of 29 days. That’s the scale of the challenge Orange faced. Our team built a strong infrastructure covering stadiums and iconic places all over France. This was a historic moment: never before has such a huge task been given to just one operator.
Our mission was clear: deliver best-in-class connectivity to 4 billion viewers and 15 million fans on site. To do that, we created a new level of excellence and a fresh “made in Orange” connectivity experience, making sure Paris 2024 would be the most connected Games ever.
Orange’s fixed and mobile networks were vital at every competition site, even handling the official timing of events. Beyond the stadiums, our connectivity was essential in the Olympic Village, press centers, and around twenty train stations and airports.
To make broadcasts more exciting, our private 5G network streamed live footage straight from the heart of the action. “Finger cams” on the athletes’ boats at the marina sent broadcast-quality images around the world. The same went for sailing and kitesurfing, where all onboard footage traveled through our private 5G network.
One big innovation was a bespoke Push To Talk solution, a first in Olympic history. This allowed organizers, emergency teams, and security staff to communicate by voice and video with wide coverage and secure connections. Nearly 15,000 devices were used during the Games.
At the Opening Ceremony floated along the Seine River, we worked behind the scenes to connect nearly 160 barges over six kilometers. Thanks to about 100 HD cameras and our 5G technology, a billion viewers were able to enjoy the event live.
Let’s be honest, organizing an event like this will always have an impact. That’s why we launched an ambitious action plan to keep our emissions below 10,000 metric tons of CO₂. How did we do this? By making smart technical choices. 70% of our deployments are permanent, 25% of the equipment was rented, and most material was shipped by boat.
We also planned to reuse at least 75% of the dismantled equipment after the Games. This is the first time an operator has calculated and published its carbon impact on a competition of this size so transparently, setting a new standard for future Olympic events.
Behind this amazing technology were 1,000 passionate Orange managers, network experts, engineers, and technicians, who worked full time to make sure everything went smoothly.
